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‘Yeah, They’re Gone:’ Musk Confirms Cuts to X’s Election Integrity Team (Maria)
The author writes, “The Elon Musk-owned social network formerly named Twitter has reportedly cut half of its election integrity team just weeks after saying it would expand the group. Now operating under the name X, Musk’s firm ‘is cutting around half of the global team devoted to limiting disinformation and election fraud on the platform, including the head of the group, according to three people familiar with the situation,’ The Information reported yesterday. … Musk confirmed the cuts in a post on twitter.com, the website where you can access the X platform. ‘Oh you mean the “Election Integrity” Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they’re gone,’ he wrote.”
Justices Have Financial Interest in Major Tax Case (Dana)
From The Lever: “Two Supreme Court justices own shares of companies that could see tens of billions of dollars in tax relief from the outcome of a case that the high court will rule on next term. While the justices have not recused themselves from the case and their financial interests don’t explicitly violate existing judicial ethics laws, progressives and court watchdogs are demanding their recusal. According to a review of public company documents and judicial financial disclosures, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito together own shares in 19 companies that could see combined tax relief of more than $30 billion if the court issues a broad ruling in the Moore v. United States tax case and strikes down a one-time corporate tax imposed in 2017.”
Wildfire Smoke Is Eroding Decades of Air Quality Improvements, Study Finds (Gerry)
The author writes, “In more than a half century since the Clean Air Act was enacted, there have been dramatic improvements in air quality in the United States, as regulations demanding less-polluting cars and factories helped lift cities from clouds of dirty smog. But a big chunk of recent air quality progress has been rolled back for one reason — wildfire smoke — and it’s happening far beyond the smoldering forests of Western states.”
A Summer Light Show Dims: Why Are Fireflies Disappearing? (Laura)
From Yale Environment 360: “Fireflies — whose shimmering, magical glows light up summer nights — are in trouble, threatened by habitat destruction, light pollution, and pesticide use. With 18 species now considered at risk of extinction in North America alone, recovery efforts are only just beginning.”
How Just One Set of Animal Tracks Can Provide a Wealth of Information (Mili)
The author writes, “Rock faces in Namibia are decorated with hundreds of stone-age images not only of animals and human footprints, but also of animal tracks. These have been largely neglected to date as researchers lacked the knowledge required to interpret them. Archaeologists have now worked together with animal tracking experts to investigate the engraved animal tracks on six rock faces in more detail, and were able to determine detailed information on the species, age, sex, limbs, side of the body, trackway and relative direction of the tracks.”
Scientists Rediscover Small Brazil Tree, 185 Years On (Sean)
The author writes, “A species of small holly tree that was last seen nearly two centuries ago and was feared extinct has been rediscovered pluckily clinging to life in an urban area in northeastern Brazil, scientists said [this month]. The tree, ‘Ilex sapiiformis,’ was found in the city of Igarassu, in Pernambuco state, by an expedition that spent six days combing the region in hopes of finding it, said the conservation group that backed the project, Re:wild, co-founded by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio. Better known as the Pernambuco holly, the tree was first documented in Western science by the Scottish biologist George Gardner in 1838.”
Oakland Public Library Exhibits Items Found in Returned Books (Al)
From Writer’s Digest: “Don Vaughan explains what the Found in a Library Book project reveals about a community.”
